Contextual factors influencing research use in nursing

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Contextual factors are recognized as significant barriers to research utilization in healthcare.
• Limited understanding exists on how specific contexts impact research-based decisions and organizational change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the impact of contextual factors on the practical reasoning of nurse specialists.
• To understand how these factors influence the construction of policy for nursing practice.

Main Methods:

• Observation of three groups of clinical nurse specialists in meetings.
• Analysis of meeting transcripts to identify physical, social, political, and economic influences.
• Categorization of influences on 31 nursing issues.

Main Results:

• Multiple contextual factors influenced each decision, including setting, system, relationships, and resources.
• Practitioners employed strategies to adapt care, influence others, and affect organizational decision-making.
• Decisions were bounded by setting, system, team dynamics, and resource constraints.

Conclusions:

• Evidence-based practice requires skills in translating evidence, mediating stakeholder values, negotiating complexity, and coordinating inter-agency work.
• Nurse specialists play a key role in policy review through cross-boundary communication.
• Effective boundary spanning by clinical specialists necessitates broader skills beyond information management.